Simple Business Card Advice | How To Design A Business Card That Gets Your Phone Ringing Off The Hook

Simple Business Card Advice | The first impression is often the last impression, especially in the world of business. Considering the number of small businesses out there providing the same, or at least similar services and competing for the same target audience, you need to make sure every aspect of your marketing efforts is up to the standards of the services you’re providing – including your business cards. This small piece of paper can be the critical difference between a lost sale and a loyal client for life, yet you’d be surprised how many business owners treat it as an afterthought!

Getting a potential client to call you and inquire about the products or services you’re providing is winning half the battle. And today we list the essential tips for designing a business card that not only provides your potential clients with all the necessary information, but gets them to actually call you! Want to know how to design a business card that makes a lasting, favorable impression on your prospects before they even see your website? Read on!

Get The Basics Out Of The Way | Simple Business Card Advice

The first and most important goal of a business card is to provide the recipients with contact information, so you’ll want to start designing yours from the ground up! There’s a rather limited space on the average business card, which means you’ll need to make sure you display all the relevant information without cluttering the card and overwhelming your potential clients. So, what’s most important?

Your name should definitely be there, as well as the name of your business. Your email address and a phone number are also essential, but you can also consider including your social media links if you use those networks to promote the services you’re providing. If you’re tweeting about what you had for lunch and sharing hilarious cat videos, it’s probably best to skip those links (but you can always send them to us – we always appreciate a funny cat video)!

Being Unique Can Backfire! | Simple Business Card Advice

We get it, you want to make sure your business card stands out from a pile of the business cards your potential clients get throughout the week. However, make sure you’re being careful when playing around with different shapes and sizes. The average business card is 3.5 x 2 inches, which means wallets and business card holders are made to accommodate this particular size. By choosing an unusual size or shape, you’ll make your business cards difficult to store and access, which means they might end up in the trash the moment the meeting is over, instead of the wallet of a potential client.

Instead of going with an unusual shape or size, we advise our clients to try out different orientation when designing business cards for them. For example, if you don’t have to many details, a vertical orientation could work for your business card. Other tactics that will help you give your cards that extra punch is using a special finish such as embossing or even gold foiling. Keep in mind, though, that people will often write extra details on the cards, so if you choose to laminate yours, do it only on one side.

If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It | Simple Business Card Advice

The most effective way to stand out from the crowd is to build a unique brand – a visual identity and that spans across all of your materials, both online and off. This, only naturally, extends to your business cards as well. The goal here is to make sure your business card matches the rest of your branded materials, so when you lay them all down on your desk, they look and feel like they came from the same source. You can achieve this by using the same color scheme throughout, or even sticking to the same two or three fonts, similar graphics and imagery.

But Don’t Get Desperate For Attention | Simple Business Card Advice

There’s standing out, and then there’s standing out for all the wrong reasons. While using color to brand your business card is a smart move, it’s best to keep the number of colors down to 2-3 max. Sure, colors can make your card stand out, communicate a message and represent your business, but if you use too many contrasting colors, you’ll turn your card into a cluttered cry for help! Needless to say, using color will also add to the printing costs, which will make the card that a lot less appealing when the time comes to print hundreds of them.

If You Can’t Read This, It’s Too Late | Simple Business Card Advice

One of the most important, yet often overlooked criteria of a well-designed business card is readability. Even the most appealing business card will be completely useless if the information is difficult to read. There are several factors affecting readability, all of which you’ll need to pay attention to. First, there’s the issue of the font itself: using complex calligraphic fonts for the important information is the surefire way to render your cards useless. Then, there’s the issue of size! Make sure you’re not using fonts smaller than 8pts, otherwise your potential clients will need a magnifying glass each time they decide to reach out to you.

You also need to pay attention to the number of fonts you use – a good rule of thumb is limiting the number of fonts to 2-3. The human eye finds it difficult to scan multiple fonts at the same time, so if you want to emphasize certain information, use a bold version of your font instead of using a completely different one.

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MediaNovak is a creative design agency that specializes in web design, online marketing, graphic design and corporate identity solutions. We started our company with some basic ideals—offer our customers exceptional design, while delivering a positive customer experience.

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